3 themes revealed in Phillies’ Game 2 loss: delusion, trust, and dishonesty

The bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 symbolized the last three seasons of Phillies baseball: delusion.

Blake Treinen came on for the Dodgers with a 4-1 lead, looking to coast through the middle of the struggling Phillies’ order to put the Dodgers up an unattainable 2-0 lead heading back to Los Angeles. He allowed a lead-off base hit to Alec Bohm, a double to J.T. Realmuto, and then Nick Castellanos poked a two-run double down the left field line, making it a one-run game.

45,653 at Citizens Bank Park rose back to their feet, something they had done very few of all night, as the Phillies were showing their only sign of life on a humdrum Monday night.

Alex Vesia, a left-hander, replaced Treinen to face Bryson Stott with Castellanos on second. With no one out, Stott laid a bunt down, Max Muncy played it perfectly, Mookie Betts executed a technique wheel play, and Castellanos was thrown out at third. One out, runner at first.

Harrison Bader, with his groin tightness, pinch hit for Brandon Marsh, and socked a hit into left. Weston Wilson came in to run for him. Max Kepler grounded out, and finally, Dave Roberts brought Roki Sasaki into the game.

With Trea Turner up and Sasaki on the mound, this at-bat could be the series. It was the season.

Sasaki’s first pitch was a splitter that ran inside. Ball one.

His second, a 99 mph inside fastball that Turner was late on and rolled over to second. Tommy Edman came up with it and spiked it to first. Freddie Freeman corralled it, rolled around, and hung on. Three outs. Game over. Perhaps, series over.

This looked like a game the Phillies could have won. Should have won. Maybe not. Roberts was toying with them in the ninth inning, not putting Sasaki in. It was a sign of disrespect. The Phillies almost made him pay. But it was too little too late.

The Phillies sang a familiar tune Monday night. They got electric stuff from their starter; the bullpen did not hold on, and the offense was no help. The stars were quiet again, and the top three in the order are now 2-for-21 this series.

The Phillies have $927 million boddled up between Bryce Harper, Turner, Realmuto, Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber. Those five are 6-for-35, which is a .171 average, posting 15 strikeouts and four walks through these two games.

The Phils’ one through seven hitters in the first seven innings on Monday went 1-for-18 with seven strikeouts.

They have now lost seven of their last eight playoff games and five of their last six at home.

Why would we think any differently? These issues are not new in the postseason.

Turner is 4 for his last 34 in October with eight strikeouts. Schwarber is 3-for-28 with 13 strikeouts. Alec Bohm 2-for-19. Realmuto 2-for-18 with five punchouts. Marsh 2-for-18 with five strikeouts. When was the last time Harper came through in the clutch? When was the last time Schwarber had a hit? He is 0 for his last 21.

The same issues persist with this team. After all, the core and lineup are nearly identical to what it has been since 2022. There is no occult spark that will just magically turn them around and have them back in elite form. This is what this team is in the postseason. As fans, we have this false hope that it will change. It does not. The only thing that changes is the year and ticket prices, the wrong way.

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It is hard to trust a team that hardly trusts its own players.

When Vesia entered the game to face Stott with no outs in the ninth, he laid down a weak bunt. It was feeble and questionable. In fact, it was the first question Rob Thomson received in his postgame media availability.

“Left on left, we’re trying to tie the score,” Thomson said. “I liked where our bullpen was at.”

That is a cowardly answer. Thomson had no faith in Stott to hit the ball to the right side of the field or even get a hit at all off the lefty. If you have no confidence in Stott, why is he playing? Why is he on the team?

And you know how slow Castellanos is over at second. You cannot pinch-run for him because Bader needs that service, who was up next.

The play completely shifted the momentum. The Phillies had tallied three straight hits. After the failed sacrifice, the building deflated.

Stott has been around the last four postseasons. He has gotten big hits and made even bigger plays. He is a valuable member of the core that the Phillies have built, and Thomson takes the bat out of his hands.

A base hit would have tied the game and put the winning run on base, possibly in scoring position.

At the moment, I did not hate the bunting decision. Thomson’s answer and further review leave me in astonishment with the settlement.

It is a photo that will forever burn in the minds of Phillies fans. Black Friday in 1977, Joe Carter‘s walk-off in 1993, Ryan Howard collapsing after tearing his Achilles in 2011, Yordan Alvarez‘s bomb in 2022, and now Stott’s bunt in 2025.

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Thomson announced postgame that Aaron Nola will start Game 3 in Los Angeles.

Nola had a detrimental 2025; however, he went out with an extremely solid nine-strikeout performance against the Twins, where he allowed two hits and one earned run over eight innings. But it was the Twins, so, hard for it to hold a ton of significance.

Ranger Suarez will be behind Nola Wednesday night.

“Nola’s never pitched out of the pen,” Thomson said. “I trust him.”

Suarez has a 1.43 ERA over 37.2 playoff innings in his career. That is elite. Suarez, without Zack Wheeler, might just be the Phillies’ best postseason pitcher.

The Phillies originally selected him to start Game 3 and have him sit in the bullpen and enter Game 1 or 2 if need be. There were multiple opportunities in either game for him to come in.

Game 1: in the seventh to retire the bottom of the order and then face Shohei Ohtani. Instead, Thomson sent David Robertson back out; he got shelled, and then Matt Strahm threw a meatball to Teoscar Hernandez, and the Dodgers took the lead.

Game 2: in the seventh again to escape with no outs and two runners on. Instead, Thomson goes with Orion Kerkering, who, since August 1st, has inherited 11 runners and allowed six of them to score.

Suarez is the best playoff arm available and is not utilized when needed. That just does not make sense.

He is due for a contract this offseason and may not throw one pitch for the Phillies this postseason.

Suarez’s final two starts were rough. He threw a combined 8.1 innings against the Diamondbacks and Marlins, allowed 17 hits, nine earned runs, one walk, and struck out six. He exited the Miami start early after taking a comebacker near the groin. We have not seen him since.

Is he hurt? Did something happen?

We have no clue.

We may never know the truth.

We may never see Suarez in a Phillies uniform again.

We almost certainly will never see this core together again after Wednesday night.

As The Doors said the best, “This is the end, beautiful friend.”

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